Object x, p.19
Object X, page 19
“Stay away from me! Get away!”
Wendy knew that voice. Void of raspiness or anything even remotely rough, the feminine screams from her rear belonged to someone who'd spoken enough since her arrival for the rest of the group to recognize what they heard. She watched Darnell's head turn slowly as her own line of sight moved past the tall school principal, and panned the herd of bodies standing before her. One by one, they all looked toward the end of the line, each individual equally as bewildered as the man or women standing beside them. All eyes settled on Victoria.
“No! No, don't!”
Victoria screamed, but she didn't. She pleaded for help, except that wasn't the case. The mother of two held her son in her arms while her daughter clung to her leg, and she didn't so much as open her mouth to breathe. Yet, according to the alert ears of everyone in the gym, Victoria was anything other than silent.
Wendy jumped from the piercing sound of a gunshot. Two more blasts caused her to urgently locate the pistol in Darnell's hand that he held at his side by the grip, careful to keep it pointed down at the floor at all times. More screams, but from indiscernible voices. Banging. Running. The sound of a door being slammed shut before something thudded against it. A wild barrage of noise blasted throughout the gym, originating in the one place deemed impossible by reality, but probable according to the new way of the world.
Silence.
The gym was so quiet that one could mistake a pin drop for a nuclear bomb being detonated. An eerie lull swept through the room as no one dared to move a muscle. Everyone seemed to wait for the next burst of noise, but none came. Chaos turned to stillness in the blink of an eye.
Wendy understood what she'd heard. Well, it wasn't so much as she understood it, but she was able to process it in ways she likely wouldn't have hours ago. She also didn't need to look behind her to verify her inclination. Victoria's voice came from the door. So did the gunshots, the cries for help, and the thunderous booms. A woman stood just feet away from them, completely silent, yet somehow sounded as though she resided inside the room behind her.
“Is someone there?”
Wendy quivered, the goosebumps on her neck spreading along her suddenly cold skin. She knew that she had to turn around despite her desire to walk away from the storage room entirely. The door wasn't just a door. It was something more than a mere chunk of wood that acted as an entrance to a room or building. What it actually was remained a mystery to everyone in the gym, but some sought its purpose far more than others. That much was made evident by Darnell snatching the flashlight out of Wendy's hand and stepping inside the storage room.
“Please, I'm trapped in here and I can't leave! They're outside! In the gym!”
Jax's once firm stance to keep everyone away from the door faded as he looked at Victoria in stunned disbelief. Victoria stared straight-ahead at the wall, her mouth hanging open and her eyes distant while she listened to the sound of her voice continue to beg for help. Jax remained where he stood, Wendy labored to find the courage to turn and face the impossible voice behind her with Tommy holding her arm, and Victoria resembled a statue with Noah in her arms and Annabelle squeezing her leg tighter than ever before. The rest of the group, unlike those deciding to remain in the gym, made their way through the open storage room door.
“Hey, can you hear us?” Darnell tried communicating through the door.
There wasn't an answer.
“Why didn't you mention the words on the front of the door?” Darnell called out behind him.
“Time is our judge,” Demetri read aloud for all to hear. “Time is our creator. Time holds us accountable for the deeds we've done, and punishes us for all we've left unfinished. Time is our god. Time. It comes for us all.”
“What does that mean?” Darnell asked.
Demetri shook his head as he reread the words carved all along the outside of the wooden door to himself. “How would I know?”
“Hey, I asked you why you never said anything about these words?” Darnell shouted, his question aimed at Jax and Wendy once again. “This could mean something. It could be—”
“They want my baby. They want my baby. They want my baby.”
Everything came to a stop when Darnell cut himself off after being interrupted by the voice from behind the door. It wasn't actually behind the door, though. Was it inside it? Or part of it? No one knew, but Victoria's voice continued to murmur loud enough to be heard, but quiet enough to not create a scene.
“They want to take my baby, but you're mine. You're all mine. No one will ever take you from me, my precious little angel.”
Jax joined his co-workers while Wendy looked at the only remaining adult in the gym. Victoria turned her head and made eye contact with her, her face that of someone frightened by the complete lack of control in her rapidly-changing life. They were the only two in the gym with their kids next to them. Neither had their husband to count on—and Wendy seriously doubted if she would ever have Sam in her life again—and that meant something. It connected them. It brought them together in spite of the fact that they were strangers ten minutes ago. Wendy didn't know much about the woman struggling to stay composed with her baby boy in her arms and her little girl hanging on her, but she felt as if she needed to be a friend.
Victoria finally spoke. Her voice shook, rattling from the unknown. “That's not me in there.”
“I know,” Wendy nodded with her warmest smile. She knew that her next words overstepped her bounds by speaking for everyone, but she didn't care. Victoria needed assurance now more than ever. “We all know.”
A burst of white light surged throughout the old wooden door like lightning. It vibrated and rattled, not violently, but enough to cause everyone in the storage room to step back. The white light abruptly shot to the edges of the wood where it glowed without an end in sight. Even where the door and floor met had turned bright white. Without warning, blood leaked from the words on the front of the door, coating the wood with thick and dark fluids. Not a single drop of blood reached the floor, however. It never made it past the light.
“I gave you her!” Victoria's voice screamed from behind the door, possessing a raw intensity lacking in her prior remarks. It was full of genuine rage and frustration. “Now leave me and my son alone!”
And then, in a split second, the light vanished. The blood disappeared from the wood as the door returned to its motionless state.
“Get her in here!” Demetri shouted from inside the storage room.
Jax's voice resonated from the same vicinity. “This doesn't have anything to do with her.”
“Doesn't have anything to do with her?” Demetri asked in obvious disagreement. “It's her goddamn voice!”
“And whatever it is clearly can't hear us!” Jax shot back.
“I bet it could hear her, though!” Demetri debated.
Wendy hustled over to Victoria's side as the rest of the group stumbled out of the storage room and back into the gym. Tommy took Annabelle's hand—whether out of his own fear or a very brave attempt to let her know that everything would be okay—while Wendy showed her allegiance with her firm stare sent in the direction of those looking her way. Although, regardless of what she did, the reality was that Wendy knew she wasn't the wanted one.
“You need to come with us,” Demetri said to Victoria.
Victoria looked down at the floor, responding with a firm shake of her head.
“I'm not asking,” Demetri repeated himself.
“Neither am I,” Darnell joined in, his attention locked solely on Victoria as well. “Your voice is coming from that door. Whoever's in there keeps talking about her baby too.”
“She doesn't have anything to do with that door,” Wendy said in defense of Victoria.
“None of us do,” Jax said. “Everyone needs to calm down, okay? Pointing fingers at one another won't accomplish anything.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
Jax looked at Demetri, squinting his eyes slightly in an attempt to process what he'd just heard. “What did you say to me?”
“I told you to shut the fuck up,” Demetri repeated with the confidence of a man significantly larger and stronger than he actually was.
Jax took a step forward. He knew that he should keep his cool. After all, he'd just told everyone to calm down moments ago, but he had some personal business to take care of first. Primarily, like finally putting his fist through Demetri's face like he'd imagined doing so many times before.
But Jax froze.
Darnell took a far different approach from when he last scolded Demetri for using foul language in the presence of children. Now, the school principal didn't seem to care what anyone said, because he pointed the same gun that he'd confiscated from Wendy at Jax. Something about his behavior reminded Wendy of what she'd experienced with Sam. It was like the object in their backyard changed her husband the moment he encountered it, and now she watched a previously composed school principal point a gun at his employee after spending only a few minutes near the door in the storage room. It couldn't have been a coincidence. That door was dangerous.
Wendy looked on as no one dared to challenge Darnell. Jax had his hands up defensively, Demetri appeared to be in heaven as a result of what unfolded, Richard didn't so much as utter a word despite having the most authority in the room, and Amber seemed to be lost in another world all by herself. Everything unraveled as Wendy desperately searched for a way to alleviate at least some of the tension in the room. While she didn't wish for Victoria to be blamed for something that clearly didn't involve her, perhaps Victoria could simply entertain the groups' wishes and attempt to speak to the door? That way she could prove that she was equally as innocent as the rest of them.
“Here's the deal,” Darnell said, yet to move his handgun away from Jax. It was obvious that he'd identified his biggest threat. “Victoria is going to try to talk to whoever's on the other side of that door, and if she doesn't get a response, then she's opening it.”
“We're not opening that door!” Wendy exclaimed, refusing to allow the woman next to her to do anything more than talk to the strange door inside the storage room.
“Let's go!” Darnell ordered sharply, disregarding Wendy's demand.
Wendy looked at Jax for support. He stepped forward, but immediately stopped after an armed Darnell aggressively extended his arm even further in his direction. There was only so much that Jax could do with a gun pointed at him, and there wasn't anywhere else to go for help. This was it. They were outnumbered, outgunned, and out of time, so Wendy did the only thing that made sense.
She turned to Victoria, promising her that everything would be okay with her eyes. “I'll hold Noah.”
“I don't want to,” Victoria said to Wendy, keeping her voice low.
Wendy stepped closer to Victoria in order to keep their conversation private. “We don't have any other choice. I'll take Noah, and Annabelle can hold hands with Tommy while you're gone. Listen, just go to the door and say something, and when there's no response, we'll all be able to move past this after they see that it doesn't have anything to do with you. Please, do everything you can not to open it, though. Everything.”
Victoria demanded assurance before temporarily leaving her children. “Promise me that you'll look after my kids.”
“I promise,” Wendy told her with absolute certainty.
Victoria reluctantly handed Noah over to Wendy after giving him a kiss on the forehead, and did the same to Annabelle before escorting her over to Tommy. Darnell handed the gun to Demetri—who promptly pointed it at Jax with a grin—and approached Victoria in order to grab her by the arm. Darnell then roughly dragged Victoria into the storage room without bothering to wait for her to make the short walk on her own. His patience was gone. So was any sign of common sense or reason. Darnell wanted answers, and he wanted them immediately.
Darnell pushed Victoria in front of the wooden door, glancing down at the knife in his belt when she looked back at him. It was more than enough to instill a healthy amount of fear into the mother of two.
“Say something,” he demanded.
Victoria understood why she should feel afraid. She was all alone in a dark room with a strange man. The only light came courtesy of the flashlight in Darnell's hand and the little that leaked in from the hand-crank emergency light in the gym, while both of her children were currently being watched by a woman she didn't even know. And what about her husband? Was he safe? Did he even know what was going on outside? And if he did, had he made the costly mistake of leaving the house to search for them?
But Victoria experienced a different type of fear at this very moment. The impossible happened when she looked at the old and worn wooden door, surprised by its height almost as much as she was by its location. Noah and Annabelle faded from her mind. So did her husband. Her concern for her family disappeared as quickly as her worry for her own safety, and she knew that she only had one thing to blame for snatching her regard for the well-being of her precious loved ones.
The door possessed a certain energy. It drew her in, captivating her with traits that she struggled to identify. The words along the edges—some visible and others hidden in the darkness—added to its intrigue as she felt smaller than ever standing in its presence. It was just wood. It was the most basic structure that one could build in a world full of complex designs, but it was so much more than that. And now, in spite of everything she had to lose, Victoria succumbed to what she could potentially gain.
She opened her mouth and spit out one single word. “Hello?”
Dust rose off the concrete floor, sparkling in the path of the flashlight behind her like glitter in a young child's hand. The temperature in the room seemed to drop. The elements turned on her, tricking her mind and paralyzing her limbs, but nothing happened. She stood in front of the door—cold and confused—without the answers she craved. She'd heard herself in this very door before. Her voice. Her infliction. Her cadence. It was all too real.
“Is someone there?”
Victoria gasped. The words came from the door. The tone was so calm and collected, foreign to the environment that she'd grown accustomed to since the moment that everything changed on her ride home from her parents' place, but strikingly familiar to her ears. It was her, except it wasn't.
Darnell stepped forward and focused the entirety of his light on the door. “Who's there? Answer me!”
No response.
Darnell spoke to Victoria with his eyes locked on the door in front of them. “Say something else.”
Suddenly, Victoria felt as if she was thrown out of an airplane without a parachute. Her stomach dropped before she stepped outside of her body for a brief moment. She broke free from whatever had a hold of her, unable to explain what it was or how she found herself so unchained, but it brought her mindset back to where it belonged. She needed to return to her children. She had to hold her baby and comfort her daughter. Nothing mattered except her family.
Victoria turned and took a step toward the gym.
Darnell pushed her back. “Say something again!”
“Let me out of here!” Victoria screamed at him.
“Oh my God, who's there!? I can hear you!”
Victoria ignored the noise out in the gym. She assumed that Wendy and Jax tried to stand up for her after hearing the commotion from inside the storage room, but they weren't of much use as long as Demetri pointed a gun at them. It also wouldn't do her any good to isolate the sound of Annabelle calling her name or Noah crying in Wendy's arms. Victoria understood that was on her own until she made it out of this room, and she didn't like her chances of accomplishing such a simple request after hearing the voice from the door once more. For the second time in a matter of moments, it responded to her voice and her voice only after she said something, and she didn't expect Darnell to allow her to walk out of here until he had some answers.
Darnell removed the long chef's knife from his belt and held it by the handle in his closed fist. His stare was firm and direct, his swarthy skin hiding him in the darkness. He would be a shadow if not for the faint light from the gym. “I want to know her name. Ask her. Now.”
Victoria kept her back to the strange door. She didn't want to look at it. “What's your name?”
“Victoria!” the voice called out. “My name is Victoria!”
Darnell continued to stare down at her from his tall perch. “Ask her where she is.”
“Where are you?” Victoria asked.
“I'm in a school gym!” the voice answered from the door intensely. “I locked myself in an equipment room after those things got inside. Please, you need to help me! It's just me and my baby and he's only four months old!”
Darnell dropped his voice to a whisper. The door couldn't hear him regardless, but old habits die hard. “How old is your baby, Victoria?”
She didn't want to answer. Although, she didn't expect silence to make a difference. Darnell knew her answer. “Four months.”
“Ask her where your daughter is,” he said.
“I don't want to,” Victoria responded without hesitation.
“You don't want to what?” the voice asked from the door. “And are there more of you? Can you help me?”
Darnell never looked away from the woman in front of him. Her eyes shifted to the floor. “I'm not going to tell you again. Ask her where your daughter is.”
Victoria swallowed. There was nothing. Her mouth was bone-dry. “Where's...Annabelle?”
The hysterics abruptly stopped. As if someone flipped a switch on a remote, whatever was in the door sounded as cool as a cucumber. “It needed her.”
“What needed her?” Victoria asked. She responded without Darnell's encouragement. This thing never asked her who Annabelle was, and that triggered her maternal instincts. It acted like it already knew her daughter.
“It,” the voice said, steady as could be.
“Ask her if the blood was Annabelle's,” Darnell said.
Victoria's interest shifted away from the door, and instead settled solely on Darnell. Instinctively, she took a defensive stance. Darnell's words impacted her far more than anything the mysterious voice in the door could ever say.
